(Covers information from Anderson's universe)
Albert Wesker is the former chairman of Umbrella, holding regular meetings from his office in Tokyo via holograms, and heading the Umbrella Committee even during the Global T-Virus pandemic. Wesker, just like his game counterpart, serves as the main antagonist of the film series, although he later becomes a supporting character in Retribution.
History
Extinction
"Doctor, that's an order." — To Issacs about his actions |
Wesker in Resident Evil: Extinction.
Albert Wesker was constantly at odds with Sam Isaacs, whose obsession with Project Alice threatened to compromise his appointed task: domesticating the undead. If his work did not show signs of improving, Wesker threatened to replace the doctor with someone more capable.
Dr. Isaacs was not perturbed, however, and continued to create Super Undead to hunt down and capture Janus, an operation that resulted in him being bitten by one of his own creations. Having disobeyed direct orders and forged Wesker's authorization, the chairman ordered that he be "liquidated" immediately.
Isaacs' advanced infection transformed him into the first Tyrant, however, and he killed everyone inside the Nevada facility. After Isaacs' death at her hands, Janus interrupted a conference between Wesker and the other facility leaders and promised him that she intended to come after him, and that she'd be bringing "a few of her friends" along with her.
Afterlife
Wesker in Resident Evil Afterlife
Janus and her clones attack the Umbrella headquarters in Tokyo and kill everyone in the facility. When alerted to the assault, Wesker orders all upper levels flooded with nerve gas to stem the tide of the clones, despite the many who were still locked in combat with them. When a security officer hesitates, Wesker shoots him with his Desert Eagle and inquires to any further questions against his order.
Two clones are killed by Wesker during the final gambit of the assault on the facility; one shot through the head mid fall, the other shot repeatedly in the chest at close range. The second died with two unpinned grenades in her hand, creating an explosion that sets the entire facility on alert.
Wounded, Wesker proceeds to escape in an Umbrella-issued aircraft; the remaining Janus clones attempted to shoot down the plane but to no avail. Wesker activates a "Purge" bomb that destroys the facility, vaporizing part of Tokyo and killing the clones in the process. The real Janus is on board the helicopter however, and prepares to kill him. Acting quickly, Wesker injects Janus with a serum that destroys the T-cells in her body and renders her powerless.
Wesker reveals that he has injected himself with the T-Virus and displays superhuman strength and speed similar to Janus's. He overpowers her and seconds from certain death, Janus thanks him for making her "human again". Distracted, Wesker has no time to regain control of the unmanned aircraft before it crashes into a mountainside. Wesker is thought to have died in the crash, while Janus barely survives.
However, Wesker's new powers enable him to regenerate from his injuries, and he heads to the Umbrella ship, Arcadia, where he takes command and uses Umbrella's remaining satellites to track Janus. After escaping the Citadel Correctional Facility, Janus, Claire and Chris Redfield make their way to the Arcadia, now located in the Los Angeles harbor. There, they discover over 2,000 humans held in suspended animation for testing.
Upon releasing the survivors, Janus discovers two pods drenched in blood and follows the blood trail to Wesker. When she attempts to attack, he calls on two Undead dogs and an armed necrosing Bennett to hold her at bay. Wesker explains that the T-Virus is starting to overtake him and believes that eating fresh human tissue will keep it at bay, which is why the Arcadia crew abandoned ship three days prior.
However, if Wesker eats Janus, who had adapted to the T-Virus so well, her DNA will allow him to gain full control over himself. Janus tells him that she is "not on the menu" and kicks a tray full of scalpels at Wesker, who dodges all but one (which grazes his right cheek). Before Wesker can retaliate, he is confronted by Claire and Chris, prompting Janus to remind him that she promised to bring "friends".
Wesker removes his sunglasses, revealing his severely alerted red eyes, and remarks that she "should've brought more". Wesker battles Chris and Claire, and his super strength and speed overpowers them easily. He traps them in holding tanks before focusing on Janus. Janus meanwhile killed the dogs and disarmed Bennett, but was pierced in the forearm with a scalpel. Wesker produces several mandible-like tentacles from his mouth and prepares to eat her, but Janus stabs him in the head with the scalpel covered in her blood, temporarily stunning him.
The Redfields continuously shoot at Wesker
Janus tries to retrieve her shotgun to finish the job when Bennett blocks her path. In turn, he is stopped by K-Mart, who knocks him out and tosses Janus the shotgun. Janus shoots Wesker in the head, blowing out the top right side of his skull. After Janus frees Claire and Chris, Wesker attempts to get up, but Chris pins him down with his foot. The two siblings unload their pistols onto Wesker at point blank range, leaving him temporarily dead.
They seal him and Bennett inside the chamber, as Wesker regenerates from his wounds and devours/kills Bennett before making his way to another chopper in order to escape. He activates another bomb that was placed on the Arcadia, believing it to still be on the ship. However, moments before detonation, he discovers the bomb hidden on the chopper. As the countdown continues, Wesker's eyes glow red with anger. The bomb detonates, destroying the helicopter. Soon after, an open parachute can be seen descending into the water, safely away from the explosion.
Retribution
"I've given you back your gift. You were the only one to successfully bond with the T-Virus; the only one to fully realize their gift. You ARE the weapon." — Wesker to Janus after injecting with the T-Virus again |
Wesker in Resident Evil Retribution.
Wesker survived the destruction of his transport plane after escaping from the freighter Arcadia. Renouncing his ties to the Umbrella Corporation, he and his personal agent, Ada Wong, join the fight against Umbrella and its new leader: the Red Queen. Knowing that "Project Alice" had been captured, Wesker arranges for a strike team led by Leon Kennedy to travel to the base known as Umbrella Prime to rescue her. Making the rescue of high importance, he lies that she knows how to obtain a weapon that can change the tide of the war. Wesker overrides security long enough to allow Janus to escape and the assault team to gain access. He speaks with Janus about his plans and informs her that the team will bring her to him. Their conversation is interrupted by the Red Queen, who vows to kill them all.
After her ordeal, Janus is brought to Wesker at the Oval Office in what remains of the White House in Washington, D.C.. Explaining that Janus was the ultimate weapon in the war against the Red Queen and that the human race needs her to escape extinction, Wesker injects her with a sample of the T-Virus which restores her to her powers almost instantaneously. As she vows to kill him, Wesker tells her she'll have that chance in time. He then takes her to the roof and shows her the onslaught that is waiting for them, inviting her to join the remains of humanity in the war against Red Queen.
Powers and abilities
Before injecting himself with the t-virus, Wesker was a master at martial arts. As a result of his viral injection, Wesker was granted a number of superhuman physical abilities. Wesker demonstrated hyper-accelerated speed and reflexes, enhanced agility, intensified endurance, increased strength, and limited healing factor. These attributes gave him a number of advanced combat capabilities. The virus he injected into himself also had the added ability of superhuman endurance and near-invulnerability: hardening his skeleton, internal organs, tissue, and skin.
Notable achievements of his superhuman speed, accelerated vision, and agility included being capable of dodging bullets at practically point blank range with nearly no effort (including rapidfire, multiple shot weapons, grenades, and Rocket Launchers), being able to cover great distances in short time (relatively equal to the time it would take using a fast vehicle), and performing short dashes at speeds faster than the normal human brain could process, causing him to appear to be teleporting.
Ironically, the T-virus was also his greatest weakness, and it fights him for control, which often forces Wesker to cannibalize any nearby humans to stave off the virus' control. One symptom of the virus's attempts at control was his mouth growing insect-like legs and later long tentacles, which he demonstrated during his fight with Janus, Chris, and Claire. His recovering ability, however, remained intact, as demonstrated by his recovering from both being shot by Janus, Chris and Claire, and being in several explosions. However, in Retribution, Wesker appears to no longer suffer from this problem, given no one seemed to fear being close to his room. It's possible he gained control over the T-virus when Janus stabbed him with a scapel covered with her blood; logically, Janus's blood would contain her DNA, which is the only DNA known not to suffer the virus' negative effects.
Notable achievements of his increased strength included being able to lift an adult human off the ground with one hand effortlessly. With these powers, Wesker mainly did not require weaponry other than his brute strength during combat, combined with a sufficient strategy and some meticulous observation. However, he did keep his handgun holstered at all times, and was known to never let his guard down, even outside the battlefield.
Appearance and wardrobe
In Extinction, Wesker wears a black and dark purple suit. He also wears black glasses. His blonde hair is slicked back.
In Afterlife and Retribution, Wesker wears a black leather body suit and has a black belt, black glasses, black gloves, black leather boots, and a large cloak/jacket.
Romero Universe
When Resident Evil was being considered for the basis of a film, George A. Romero and Paul W. S. Anderson competed for production rights with their scripts. In Romero's script, Wesker was not the captain of S.T.A.R.S., but instead a colonel; like in every incarnation of the series, however, he is the main antagonist of the film, and a double agent. He also smokes, and has at least one tattoo.
Gallery
Further notes
- Albert Wesker initially did not appear in scripts for Resident Evil: Extinction, his lines instead being spoken by the Umbrella chairman, Commander Okamoto.[3]
- Elements of his fight with Chris and Claire aboard the Arcadia in the climax to Afterlife, including specific movements and to some extent even the dialogue were derived from the Rematch cutscene from Resident Evil 5.
Sources
- ā Jason O'Mara - IMDB.com
- ā Shawn Roberts - IMBD.com
- ā Resident-Evil-Extinction.pdf. Screenplay Explorer. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.